Lawmakers Seek Probe Of Oak Hill

Lawmakers Want Probe Of Oak Hill School Spending, Care

August 12, 1992|By WILLIAM COCKERHAM; Courant Staff Writer

A group of Democratic state lawmakers questioned Tuesday whether the Oak Hill School for the blind and mentally retarded misspent state funds and whether the private, nonprofit organization can provide adequate care for its clients while its workers are on strike.

They said they would ask for a state investigation.

The school's administration quickly responded, saying its financial practices and methods of care could withstand any scrutiny.

State Reps. Joseph Courtney of Vernon, Nancy Wyman of Tolland and Doreen Del Bianco of Waterbury, all of whom have been sympathetic to the striking New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, in the past, said they will ask the attorney general's office and other state agencies to investigate.

Wyman said the concerns raised at the 2 p.m. press conference at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford are not accusations of wrongdoing.

"We just have serious concerns about how state money is being spent on these services," she said. In response, Lars Guldager, Oak Hill School's executive director, said the legislators or any other state officials have the right to call for an investigation of any private agency that does business with the state. "We have nothing to hide. They're not going to find anything wrong. We welcome them up here on the hill, the Department of Mental Retardation, the Department of Education, all of them," he said.

Many of the questions raised by the legislators were provided to them by District 1199, which struck the Hartford-based Oak Hill School and more than 60 of its group homes throughout the state on July 8 over wages and benefits.

Among the questions and concerns were:

Whether the school leases property from a "Voloshin Realty" company in Woodbridge that doesn't exist.

Why the school has a more than $30 million endowment fund, yet cut its workers' pay by 4 percent before the strike and refuses to negotiate with the union to settle the wage dispute.

Whether a woman companion of Guldager's, who lives at his West

Hartford home, was paid $117,000 for her interior decorating work a few years ago and whether this relationship with a "related party" was not reported to the IRS and the state.

Why teachers and instructors at the school have reported that injuries to clients have increased 50 percent since the strike.

Why the school leases 23 of its group homes from the private, nonprofit Corporation for Independent Living for an average of $60,000 a year when it could buy them and pay an average of $21,000 a year for a mortgage.

Whether there are a number of nonprofit groups affiliated with the Corporation for Independent Living -- which was created with the cooperation of the state a decade ago to take over the responsibility of moving the handicapped from institutions into the community -- that have not filed as tax-exempt organizations.

Guldager denied that Karla Harrod Interior Designs was paid $117,000 for decorating the school's group homes, although he did not know the exact figure. He said Harrod was paid an hourly fee for her work and did not profit from any purchases of furniture or accessories. He said most of the furnishings were bought directly from manufacturers.

He also denied doing business with a Voloshin Realty company. "I've never heard of the company," he said. The legislators said they had learned that the company has no listed telephone number and its address is an empty parking lot. L Guldager said the leased group homes will be owned by the school in 25 years "so the leases are really like mortgages." He said the state stands to save millions of dollars in rent once the school takes ownership of the homes from the Corporation for Independent Living.

Guldager said clients are receiving proper care from replacement workers and other nonunion employees. He denied that injuries are up 50 percent.

He also said the reason the Corporation for Independent Living has several affiliate organizations is that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which gives funds to Oak Hill and other priavte health care groups, requires them.

The legislators, all members of committees that oversee services for the mentally retarded or blind, Tuesday questioned whether "this wealthy nonprofit [school] was acting responsibly in its current labor relations."

In terms of the school's $30 million endowment, Guldager said Oak Hill doesn't want to spend any portion of the principal and often returns profits from investments to the fund.

"We want to increase our endowment just like universities and other institutions do. They don't spend the principal. It's a standard practice," he said.

Asked Tuesday whether the state should accept some responsibility if an investigation shows financial improprieties by Oak Hill, which receives 90 percent of its funding from the departments of mental retardation, income maintenance and education, the legislators said yes.

"We never asked these questions before. Maybe we've been foolish with some of this money we've spent. We've not paid attention enough. Many of us were running around doing other things," said Del Bianco, a member of the legislature's human services committee.

Guldager said he was disappointed that the legislators chose to support the union.

"We are not taking sides here," said Del Bianco. "We just want these questions answered," she said